Team India reaches Kolkata for crucial fixture against West Indies
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 27 (ANI): The Indian cricket team reached Kolkata airport on Friday before their must-win Super Eight fixture against West Indies, which is scheduled for Sunday at the Eden Gardens.
The Men in Blue have won one out of their two matches in the Super Eight of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 so far and desperately need a win in the next fixture to enter the semi-finals.
South Africa have already qualified for the semis, and Zimbabwe has been eliminated from the race after back-to-back defeats in their Super Eight fixtures. With one place left in the semis from Group 1, the competition is between the West Indies and the defending champions, India.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side won all of their matches in Group A and finished at the top. India entered the Super 8 stage unbeaten as they defeated Pakistan, Netherlands, USA and Namibia in the league stage.
In the match against Zimbabwe, India were asked to bat first, and the top-order batted brilliantly to give a dashing start. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson added 48 runs for the first wicket, and Ishan Kishan contributed with a quick 38 off 24 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 13 balls) and Abhishek (55 off 30 balls) also contributed well. Tilak Varma (44 not out off 16 balls), along with Pandya, took India past 250 runs.
Chasing a daunting target of 257 runs, Zimbabwe managed to make 184/6 in 20 overs with the help of Brian Bennett's unbeaten 97 off 59 balls. Arshdeep Singh took three wickets as Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel shared one wicket each among them.
India got contributions from all of their top six batters as they put Zimbabwe to the sword in Chennai on Thursday, setting up a cut-throat clash against the West Indies at Eden Gardens that will determine who claims the final spot in the knockout stages. (ANI)
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